<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>I Don’t Have To Be Scared Anymore by Sarisa9</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377083">I Don’t Have To Be Scared Anymore</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarisa9/pseuds/Sarisa9'>Sarisa9</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 12:08:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>575</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377083</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarisa9/pseuds/Sarisa9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat comes home to his and Dave’s house, and finds Dave crying in their bedroom.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Don’t Have To Be Scared Anymore</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Karkat had noticed some of Dave’s strange behaviors and habits when the two had moved in together. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dave stepped lightly, and had often startled Karkat, moving silently. He had found a food stash in the closet. Dave never spoke unless spoken to. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At first, Karkat has written it off as some strange human habits, but when he spoke about them with the other humans, they had looked at him with concern and confusion.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So something was up with Dave, that much was clear. Karkat had no idea what it could be, but he was planning to ask about it that night.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He opened the door and called out loud enough that the whole neighborhood could hear him. “I’M HOME, DAVE!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">No answer. Karkat guessed that Dave was in the bedroom, so he dropped off his purse on the couch and started to walk to the hallway.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He pushed open the door, and saw a figure under the bedsheets, shaking slightly. “Dave?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The figure shrunk in stature and curled in on itself. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Dave, are you okay?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...no.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Karkat immediately rushed over and sat on the bed. He pulled the cover off of Dave and pulled him into an embrace.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dave was sobbing silently, tears streaming down his face. He buried himself in Karkat’s arms.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What’s going on with you, Dave? You’ve been acting so strange lately and I’m really fucking worried.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dave pulled back and wiped at his eyes. “Yeah, no, I’m fine. I mean, I’m not fine, but I will be, you know? Like, things are totally not okay with me right now but I don’t want to worry you. You’re really awesome and I’m super thankful you’re here for me, but like, this is something I need to take care of myself.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Karkat sighed. “Dave, there is no way I’m letting this go. I’m your partner, not just some asshole who lives with you. We’re going to talk about this.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dave lied his head in Karkat’s lap. “Not now, though. Please.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Karkat ran a hand through Dave’s hair. “Not now.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They stayed like that for a long time, soaking in each other’s presence and feeling the tense emotions in the room.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally, Dave sat up and faced him. “Alright, I think I’m ready to talk now.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Karkat nodded. “Okay, but don’t feel pressured. I’m here to listen.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They took each others hand and Dave squeezed. “Okay, uh, I don’t know where to begin.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s okay.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright, it can be summed up with a really basic blanket statement of: ‘my bro was a douche’. He did some really fucked up things to me and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Does this have to do with how you hoard food and how you move silently?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dave nodded. “Yeah, it does. There was never enough food in the apartment, so I guess I got in the habit of keeping a collection of it in my room.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Karkat bit his lip. “Dave, I’m so sorry. You shouldn’t have had to go through that.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dave laughed humorlessly. “That’s not all. He constantly pulled me into strifes with him, and I was forced to defend myself against a grown adult from a young age. I’m covered in scars from it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Karkat pulled Dave into another hug. “You’re okay, Dave. He’s not here now. He’s gone forever, and you don’t have to be scared anymore.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dave clung to Karkat’s shirt. “Yeah. I don’t have to be scared anymore.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey yall. this is the second dave has ptsd from bro fic ive posted in as many days. i think i have a problem. thanks for reading yall, have a good night/day.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>